Chapter Text
There is nothing better than snow on Christmas Day. Sunny is convinced of this.
Because it’s Christmas, the kids don’t have to help shovel snow, so the usual hassle is skipped. And snow just looks so pretty! When you don’t have to move it, the scene indeed looks very serene.
Sunny missed this. He’s spent four years without seeing snow, much less a white Christmas. Just his luck, that what would’ve been his first Christmas without Mari would be a white Christmas.
But no matter! His sister is currently leaning against him in the couch as the two watch some stupid cartoon. Sunny has everything he could ever want now. No more accursed violin, his sister and friends are all together. He supposes that he must thank the man upstairs for this second chance. How horrible things could have been if he wasn’t given this chance, he didn’t want to imagine.
After his father left, there was no real reason to continue practicing the violin or doing music, since both siblings did not want to. Their mother quietly assented to everything that was said. They had also decided to tell her about the “dream”, but Sunny wasn’t sure she really understood the full importance of it all. Again, he didn’t really think it mattered, though.
A sudden series of rapid knocks emanated from the door. “Coming!” Mari shouted, hopping off the couch (and slightly wincing as she forgot about her bad knee) to get the door. Very quickly, a diverse combination of voices greeted their familiar big sister.
”Hello Mari!” Basil and Aubrey chorused politely. “Hiya!” Kel jumped up and down, already excited at the as-yet-uncooked amount of food that would be appearing on the table shortly. Hero blushed and smiled. “Hi, dear.”
Mari quickly closed the distance and hugged him. The two had finally made things official after Mr Suzuki was no longer there to keep Mari from dating (and after Hero had shot Mari a long confession essay over text, then avoided her for a week, convinced he had gone too far). Sunny learned that Kel had recuperated most of his debt from Aubrey from betting that Hero would confess first, a fact that Aubrey was still perpetually irate over.
Sunny was now doing a quick sketch of Mari and Hero on a picnic blanket in a snowy wonderland, which was his Christmas present for Hero (he procrastinated on presents too). And for Mari, he had a big surprise planned…
(No, don’t worry, it isn’t a crowdfunded piano.)
Weirdly, however, Sunny was most worried about Basil. He seemed better now, yes, and the group had slowly relaxed around him. He smiled a lot these days, just like Sunny remembered him, but they hadn’t ever broached the topic of his suicide attempt. Sunny still had nightmares about that night, as the moon shone through the dense forest - what if he was just seconds too slow? What if he saw Basil’s body drop from the tree, just as he reached him, followed by a choking and a snapping sound? Then the body would morph into Mari, in his backyard on that also moonlit night, which would raise her hair like tendrils, and wrap around his neck-
Sunny shook his head to get out of his stupor. Things were okay now. No point in worrying about the past.
—
In every person there is a fatal flaw. Some are prideful, others overconfident; some crumble under pressure, others chase after glory.
Basil’s fatal flaw is love.
He loved his friends, he loved his grandma. He loved his plants, the sunlight, and Hobeez. Maybe once upon a time, he loved life too.
But Basil loved Sunny. And Sunny saved him, more times than he realised.
If Sunny loved Basil too, that would be the worst ending for Basil. He would only drag Sunny down.
Such a worthless being like him did not deserve to be near Sunny.
But Sunny wanted him there, and he would do anything for Sunny, so he will keep pretending.
Anything to keep Sunny there.
Ring! Ring!
”Who’s there?” Basil chirped, but his face uncontrollably fell as he heard the voice on the other side.
”Okay.”
”Okay.”
”I love you.”
”Bye.”
Basil really, really wanted his ‘I love you’ to mean it. It didn’t here.
—
Inside every person there is a dominant motivator. Some are motivated by spite, others by the pursuit of honour.
Mari’s motivator was love.
She did piano because she loved music. And when she saw how music destroyed her brother, she no longer loved music, so she stopped playing the piano.
She was good at school, because she loved knowledge. People constantly asked her the secret behind her grades, but “I love learning about things” made you sound like a jerk, so she just said hard work.
She baked because she loved the satisfied looks on the faces of her friends as they consumed her cookies, especially that of her baby brother. It was the easiest way to get him to smile.
But Mariko Suzuki, the jasmine flower, did not feel a lot of love for much of anyone including herself when her mother asked her to sit down.
”Should I go to try and find your father?”
Mari was motivated by love. She loved her little brother, and her father had hurt her little brother. So she no longer loved her father.
”I… why are you asking me?”
But families had two parents, a father and a mother. Her family was incomplete. She loved her family.
”Given why he left, I thought I should ask you first.”
But she didn’t feel motivated by this.
”Then… no.”
She had never felt like a bigger asshole. Except when she started shouting at Sunny, maybe, a month and a bit ago.
”Okay.”
Her mother gave no indication of approval or assurance.
—
Inside every person there is something priceless, something they wouldn’t give up for the world. Some consider comfort the most important, others power. For Hero, it was love.
He knew that his mother loved him and he held that close to his heart. He would give up all his awards before he gave up his little brother’s love for him.
And he didn’t know if he was ashamed to admit that he would sell out the entire world for Mari.
When he heard that Mari’s dad had left, truly left, he spent the next week in constant panic attacks worried he would take Mari with him. And the moment he saw Mari had read his confession text (it wasn’t that long… right? He felt a lot of things, and tried his best to condense them into five paragraphs.) and yet to respond, he switched off his phone, ran out of his house, and spent the rest of the week avoiding everyone he could until Kel physically pinned him to a wall at school until Mari came, grabbed him, and kissed him.
Hero still has dreams about that first kiss.
So when a week later, he suddenly realised that finances might be an issue for the Suzukis, he once again went into a full blown panic attack. He called Mari, meeting her at the park, pacing anxiously with the most serious look on his face. Mari’s anxiety spiked too, thinking it was some sort of breakup talk. Instead, she was met with an out of breath Hero rapidly asking a series of questions.
“Are you going to have to leave? Is money a problem? I can find some part time work in the city if you-“
”Hero. Hero! No, we have enough money. Where does this come from?”
”Well, um, I thought that since your dad, um left, you-“
”Silly, we have savings. Mother knows what she’s doing.”
”Oh…” Hero felt a bit silly about himself now.
”But thanks for asking. I’m glad there’s someone always looking out for Sunny and I.”
Hero beamed with pride.
—
“MERRY CHRISTMAS!” The six friends cheered (well, Sunny more or less talked) as they pulled their Christmas crackers. A loud crack sounded, followed by much chattering caused by the comparison of presents. Kel and Aubrey immediately fell into bickering about which of their presents were better. Sunny smiled at the sight, which Basil snapped a picture of with his instant camera. Mari squealed and immediately slid next to Basil, in order to be the first to see the photo develop.
Another Christmas was something Sunny had never thought possible, but here they were.
There was no place for Omori or Blackspace here. All his friends were real and were here. There was nothing to fear.
As long as they were together, everything would be okay.
—
Somewhere far away.
”Merry Christmas!” A group of men clinked their beer kegs together in a dimly lit bar. The alcohol was downed to various degrees and set down, and food was dug into. The festive chatter continued about all sorts of topics, usually ones which those present had no business commenting on, as gatherings of middle-aged men are known to do. In one particular corner, sat a man whose face did not show any festive atmosphere.
”Oh come on Suzuki, still mad?”
”No, this takes a bit to get used to. I do miss them.”
”That’s rough.”
Another man opposite joined in the conversation. “Honestly, you behaved patiently. I would have imposed discipline.”
”I don’t think forcing someone to do something helps.” Mr Suzuki said rather morosely. “I’d much rather they figure out by themselves. It worked on me.”
”Yeah, I know. But that was back home, where things are trim and proper. Out here, they’d catch all that bullshit about how everyone is unique and special and deserves the world and become useless.”
”I have confidence in my wife.”
”She sided with your kids’ friends.”
”It’s natural for a mother not to want to see her children suffer.”
The other man huffed. “Fine, on your head be it. But I still think that you need to be stronger to maintain proper Japanese piety in your family.”
—
Somewhere even farther away.
A man and a woman stepped out of a taxi at an airport.
”Mr Matvienko, Mrs Matvienko.” A man in a suit greeted the couple, holding a sign with their name on it.
”Thank you.” The men exchanged a quick handshake as they proceeded into the airport building.
”Out of curiosity, sir,” the man in a suit said, “Why are you going to a place like Faraway? I wasn’t aware of any business opportunities there.”
”Ah, no, this isn’t a business trip. I’m visiting family.”
”Oh, that’s nice. For Christmas?”
”Yes, it’s been years. There was the important banquet with government ministers on Christmas Eve, or I would’ve started earlier.”
”That’s fair enough. Work is busy.”
The man let out a hum of assent.
”If I may ask, what family are you visiting?”
”My mother and my son. They’re living together.”
”That must be hard for you. Have you ever considered bringing them to live with you?”
”Ah, you know that in this business one is generally expected to bring family to gatherings. And I don’t really want to subject him to that kind of life. I’d much rather be able to provide for him to the greatest possible extent instead, even from afar.”
”That’s fair enough. Sorry for intruding, sir.”
”No problem. What is our gate?”
”The plane is already parked at gate 43, sir. This way to the security.”
—
And in the quiet little town that was Faraway, a nearby church bell tolled.
Having finished the peal, the preacher set down the rope, turning to the old man who had helped him run the parish for so many years. “What did you think about yesterday’s mass?”
”I thought the congregation seemed bored.”
”I agree. They always do.” The preacher mused.
”It’s not the sermon. It’s just that they would rather gossip.”
”And thus is the fate of a suburban parish, my friend.” The preacher sighed. “I assume you have heard about the issue with the Suzukis from… multiple sources.”
”More sources than I want.” Old Beardy grumbled, setting down his shovel. “The way they’re talking about it, you’d assume the President had been assassinated.”
”I saw the siblings at mass last night. They seemed troubled. The younger brother in particular seemed unusually restless. I don’t know of the rights or wrongs of the entire situation but I do not think it right that they should have to be subjected to such commentary, in the house of God no less.”
Old Beardy silently nodded.
”Well, I’ll keep you no longer. It is about time to set up for the eucharist.” The preacher noted, picking up a piece of white cloth to lay on the table. Old Beardy nodded again and moved out of the door into the graveyard, as the first gatherers began to converge on the little church.